Akshay Bhatia played boldly in the final round of the Arnold Palmer invitational to prevail over Daniel Berger in a playoff.
The defining shot of the tournament was Bhatia’s shot from 190 yards with a six iron on the 16th hole to 3 feet for eagle. A shot that would have made Arnold Palmer proud.
Bhatia was five strokes back after missing a short putt on the 9th hole, then he made four straight birdies along with the eagle on the par-5 16th. His caddie, Joe Greiner, who is also left-handed, told him to “try to hit the best 6-iron of your life.” He did.
He earned $4 million from a total purse of $20 million. He earned 700 FedEx Cup points, which helps secure a spot in the season-long points competition and the playoffs.
The winner earns a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, providing job security and entry into future tournaments without needing to qualify.
Bhatia also receives invitations to The Masters, The PGA Championship, The U.S. Open, The Open Championship, as well as The Players Championship, and entry into all remaining PGA Tour Signature Events for the current season.
In other words, Akshay Bhatia punched his ticket for opportunities to be immensely successful on the PGA Tour. He is 24 years old.
Bhatia was born in Northridge, California on January 31, 2002. He was 10 years old when his family moved to Wake Forest, North Carolina in 2011 -2012 where he was homeschooled and honed his skills as a junior golfer. He turned professional at 17 years of age.
Arnold Palmer was a standout golfer at Wake Forest. Although Bhatia did not go to college at Wake Forest, he grew up there and played junior golf at Paschal Golf Course where Arnold played many times.
This is his third win on the PGA Tour, having won the 2023 Barracuda Championship in Truckee, CA and the 2024 Valero Texas Open.
“I never really thought that I could really do this with that amount of pressure,” Bhatia said. “I feel like I’ve shied away from that. And today, I dug down, I believed in what I could do and I executed nicely.”
Meanwhile, Ricky Castillo won the Puerto Rico Open with back-to-back birdies closing with a 5- under 67 to win his first PGA Tour title.
The victory gets him into the PGA Championship. He was already eligible for the Players Championship this week at TPC Sawgrass.
Blades Brown, trying to become the youngest PGA Tour winner (he is 18) in 95 years, had a one-shot lead with six holes to play when he went from a bunker to the water and made triple bogey. Brown earned a spot in the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook with his first top 10. He already had a sponsor exemption into the event.
Also of note…Zach Johnson won the James Hardie Championship in his Tour Champions debut. He became the 22nd player to win his debut on the PGA Tour Champions.
Mi Hyang Lee overcame a crazy front nine, which included two double bogeys, to secure her first LPGA Tour title in over eight years. A narrow one-stroke victory over Weiwei Zhang, Lee became only the second Korean athlete to win the Blue Bay LPGA, joining 2015 champion Sei Young Kim.
The victory marks the 32-year-old’s third career LPGA Tour title and her first since the 2017 ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open. Lee carded a final-round 1-over 73 at Jian Lake Blue Bay Golf Course for an 11-under 277 total, finishing just ahead of People’s Republic of China’s Zhang.
Finally, there are 30 days remaining until the first round of the 2026 Masters Tournament which begins Thursday, April 9, 2026. The tournament runs from April 9 – 12 with practice rounds starting April 6.
Enjoy your golf.
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